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Episode 210/211 - Winner Announced
The tenth and eleventh episodes of Season 2 of Hell's Kitchen aired on Fox, on August 14, 2006, as a double feature. On those episodes, Heather and Virginia designed their new restaurants, picked their brigades for the final service, and one of them is declared winner of Hell's Kitchen. Intro The episode began with a recap of the first nine episodes of the season, mentioning what happened, and who got eliminated when. The episode began exactly at the point where the last episode ended. Heather and Virginia were celebrating in the dorms with some champagne glasses, and somebody was knocking at the door. When it opened, it was revealed that those people were Heather's parents, and Virginia's mother and husband. Both of them were thrilled when they walked through the door, and hugged their respective loved ones. The finalists told them what they have done so far on the show, with Heather reminding the dumpster dive on episode 2 and her friendship with Rachel, and Virginia telling she won the Blind Taste Test and the Taste It, Now Make It Challenge. After some very appreciated time, the families left, and the two finalists hugged each other, telling it was a sweet gift. Press conference The next morning, the two finalists were back to business, aware that only each other were standing between their dreams. Virginia was trying to stay focus by giving kicks into a punching bag. The telephone rang and Heather picked it up. Ramsay told her to get down in the kitchen, along with Virginia. When the two finalists entered the blue kitchen, some members of the media were waiting for them in the dining room, holding cameras and taking pictures. After Ramsay talked in the microphone, reporters asked a series of questions to the finalists. At some point, Virginia declared that if she was to win, she would hire her husband who was also a chef. Moments later, the finalists revealed the dance they made up in the dorms, which Heather was embarrassed about. But, they did it anyway, much to our amusement. After that, Ramsay revealed the final challenge, and a huge red blanket came down from the ceiling. He told both finalists that the restaurant is divided, Virginia would work the blue kitchen, and Heather the red one, and that both of them would design their dream restaurant. Before they left to the dorms, Ramsay gave them their head chefs jackets. Back in the dorms, both of them were really excited, and changed in their new outfits. New restaurant design Back downstairs, both finalists stood on their respective sides of the restaurant, thinking about how they could design their restaurant. Heather declared that she could die now, and Virginia wanted to give art on the plates and on the wall, so the customers could understand who she was. With 36 hours left until the last dinner service, Ramsay introduced them to John Janavs, the designer of Hell's Kitchen, and Albie Colotto, the designer of the Red Rock Resort & Spa. He told them to work with them, and after, work with Jean-Philippe for the uniforms and atmosphere of their restaurants. He concluded by telling Virginia she would work with Sous Chef Maryann for her menu, and Heather with Sous Chef Scott. After that, both finalists met all those people and explained them their visions of their dream restaurant in details, and the construction began. They later met their respective Sous Chefs to design their menus. Individual challenge After some hard work from both finalists, Ramsay announced them to pack their bags as they were going to Las Vegas. Heather was extremely excited about that trip, and as they were going to the dorms, Ramsay joked that somebody should mop the floor. They went to Las Vegas in a huge GMC limousine, and on the way to Vegas, Ramsay reminded their signature dishes on the first day, Heather's burn on episode 2, and Virginia's incredible challenge winning streak. Arrived in Las Vegas, Ramsay introduced the Final Signature Dish Challenge, where each of them had one hour to prepare their new signature dish to the customers of the casino. Virginia prepared her chicken roulade which she served on episode 6's challenge, while Heather made a Chilean sea bass with puréed cauliflower. During the judging, both dishes were neck-and-neck, with a very close score the whole time. After a tie at 10, one last customer was approached to taste the dish. The customer clinched the victory for Virginia. After the challenge, Ramsay invited the finalists to the top of the restaurant to admire Las Vegas, and inviting both of them to London as VIP guests at his own establishment to come and enjoy themselves. Both of them were very excited about the gift. After that, they went back to Hell's Kitchen. Restaurant design continuing Arrived in Hell's Kitchen, Virginia learned that the color of the column was too dark and would not fit with her waterfalls. Colotto suggested to get some lighter colors, which she agreed. On her side, Janavs told Heather that her stairs were missing the Plexiglas they needed. So he suggested a color to go with the rest of the dining room, which Heather agreed. Colotto was also concerned about Virginia's waterfalls as he was struggling to think how he could make them work well during the night. Finally, Heather's booths were not set up properly, which made her really concerned about the progress of her restaurant. After that, both of them went to sleep, exhausted, but having a lot of things on their minds. Team select The next morning, the two finalists woke up, getting ready for the big day. Then, their former teammates came back in the dorms to greet and congratulate them. Rachel was the first one to enter, and was hugged very hard by Heather. Rachel was very happy to see Heather in the finals. She was also surprised to see Virginia there, as everybody else. The others were Tom, Sara, Garrett, followed by Keith and Giacomo who were holding platters of breakfast food. Then, the phone rang and Ramsay ordered Virginia to come down to the kitchen, along with Heather and all their friends to pick the teams. Ramsay told all the returning contestants he was happy to see them back, and each of them received a quick flashback of one of their highlights during their run in Hell's Kitchen. Because Virginia won the final challenge, she got the first pick. She chose Keith as her first pick, which he was not very happy about it as he would rather be on Heather's team. Rachel was Heather's first pick, which both of them were very happy about. For her second pick, Virginia chose Tom, which surprised everybody, including Tom himself. After Heather declared she was happy to not have him on her team, she picked Sara as her second pick. That decision made Virginia happy as she was not friend with Sara. For her last pick, Virginia chose Giacomo, thinking it would boost his confidence for not being picked last, and Heather was left with Garrett, which surprised him, but was happy to be on her team. Heather was also happy to have him on her team as she knew exactly how she could get what she wants from him. After the selection, both teams got back in the dorms for briefing time. Virginia managed to "demotivate" her team by saying she picked the people who everybody thought were weak, apart from Keith, and see what she could do with them. She told Keith that she picked him because he could carry Tom and Giacomo over. On her side, Heather was happy with her team. Rachel acknowledged her short-lived feud with Sara, but both of them declared she had nothing to worry about as they want to see her win. Also, both teams were happy about the respective menus, Keith saying that Virginia's menu was adapted to his style, and Garrett saying Heather was smart about her menu and that she designed it for the team to succeed. On Virginia's side, Keith said he would only work hard for her if she guarantees something for them at the end. Virginia was reluctant the first time, but she eventually promised $1000 each if she was to win. Tom, being unemployed, was happy about that gift. Before service The next morning, both teams started prep, and on Heather's side, Garrett was very confident, while Rachel and Sara were focused on their own things. Moments later, Colotto came and talk to Heather about a minor problem with her booths. She agreed, along with Janavs, to trim off a small section of the booth, so it could fit on the wall. In the blue kitchen, Virginia was concerned about Tom and Giacomo as they were the weakest under pressure. When she got in the dining room, Janavs and Colotto declared that her waterfalls might not be ready for the opening as they were already supposed to be ready. Virginia was worried about it, but the two architects told her to concern about her food, and let them focus on the dining room. 4 hours before opening, the design of both dining rooms were way behind schedule, but fortunately, the kitchens were running smoothly. When Heather presented her menu to Ramsay, he said the chicken on her salad was chewed up, the sea bass was boring, but praised the desserts. For Virginia, he praised her presentations, but told she had to match ingredients that taste well together. Minutes before opening, Heather presented her dining room to Ramsay. He found it very vibrant, elegant, and the only negative review he had was the child graffiti on the wall, written with a blue sharpie marker. The architects revealed to Virginia her waterfalls, who finally came alive. She was very happy about them. When Ramsay was presented her dining room, he found the color nice, and praised the lighting. After that, Ramsay told the finalists that he was proud of them both, and that he will not run the kitchen for them. He also reminded them that their teams are not their friends. Then, Heather and Virginia briefed their respective teams one last time, telling them what they want from them during that service, and service started. Dinner service For one time, Tom wanted to be on the winning team. Ramsay joked to Giacomo that he should have his oven on, with Giacomo reminding that he checked it four times already. In the red kitchen, Heather was controlling her brigade and everybody seemed confident and focused. In the blue kitchen, Virginia struggled to be understood by her team as they told her to speak louder. After she called out her first ticket, none of her team members called back. After that, it was revealed that the president of the Red Rock Resort, along with his wife, would sample each menu. Ramsay hid that information to the finalists, only telling them VIPs were in the dining room and that they had to have a great quality control. In the red kitchen, Sara sent the team off to a good start with her salad appetizers, making Heather very happy about it. Many starters went out of the kitchen very fast, but in the blue kitchen, it was not as fast as the red kitchen as Virginia was taking way too long to plate her dishes. She even pushed Giacomo and Keith, who were trying to help her, away. In the red kitchen, more than half of the diners received their appetizers, but one of them came back in the kitchen for being not hot enough. So, Heather asked for a scallop soup on the fly, determined to not leave that night not a winner. In the blue kitchen, Virginia told Giacomo to refire a salad order as the last one he sent had too much salt in it. Ramsay praised that decision, and told Giacomo to wake up. When Virginia told her team to begin going faster, Tom started to give her attitude, thinking he does not want to be talked like that because of his age. An hour into service, most of Heather's customers received their appetizers. Unfortunately, in the blue team, Virginia did a good quality control, but Giacomo was slowing the kitchen down because of the raw food he was sending. Ramsay then told Virginia that he was worried of the little food that was coming out. He also told her she needed help on the plating station. So, she asked Keith to come and help her, but he started to give her attitude, bothering her. Despite that, she was catching up on the red kitchen and most of her customers finally received their appetizers. Many of her customers were enjoying their starters, but the Red Rock Resort president complained that his pasta was a little bit too thick. In the red dining room, Heather's appetizers received mixed reviews. When a salad came back for being too salty, Heather ordered once again a scallop soup on the fly. She was worried because Sara and her weak performance could get her chances of winning away from her. Rachel had to refire an order of meat because it was not cooked enough. When she sent it back to the hot plate, Heather told her it was perfectly cooked. The Red Rock Resort president enjoyed his meat dish. In the blue kitchen, Tom was caught not doing much by Virginia. When she told him to get moving, he gave her attitude saying he could take any shit from a man, but not a woman. After that, when Tom was slicing the chicken roulade, he cut his finger really bad, and rinsed his hand under water. He showed his injury to Sous Chef Mary-Ann, and she told him to go see a medic. Giacomo informed Virginia about the bad news, and she started feeling very concerned. When Tom went in the back to get some bandages on his finger, he showed his injury to Ramsay, who told him that was nothing and that he did not need a big drama queen. Tom came back in the kitchen minutes later, asking what was needed. Virginia called out the order, and Tom successfully sent out acceptable main courses. Virginia was determined to catch up with the red team, leading the main courses to be delivered to most of her guests. The Red Rock Resort president really enjoyed his chicken roulade. When Tom asked what was on the ticket, Ramsay told him to move his big fat ass and check the ticket himself. Three hours into service, Virginia was rushing to get her entrées quickly, but a little too much as a customer complained about his dish containing too much oil. When Virginia asked for a reorder of snapper, Keith revealed they ran out of snapper. So, she started to panic at the same time we could see Keith eating some of the food. In the red kitchen, Heather started to push desserts out. She told Sara to replate some of the desserts because she was not satisfied with them. When she sent them for the second time, the plates were not the same, and told Sara to replate them once again, which she acknowledged it was becoming obnoxious. After that, Ramsay told Heather told the cream of the dessert was underneath the plate, so she told her brigade to clean underneath the plates. In the blue kitchen, Virginia started to panic when she realized she ran out of snapper, but the customers asked for their desserts anyway, so she ordered her team to get the desserts going. Both teams rallied to send their final desserts out, and the Red Rock Resort president enjoyed both kitchens' desserts. Both finalists congratulated and thanked their respective teams, with the blue kitchen celebrating with champagne glasses. Keith declared he only wanted to win the $1000 Virginia promised. Post-mortem When the teams were lined up, Ramsay congratulated both teams and asked for a big round of applause. After that, Ramsay revealed that the president of the Red Rock Resort was dining in both restaurants that night, and he came in the kitchen to give his reviews about the different dishes. Heather's sea bass was praised for the great presentation and delicate taste. Virginia's short ribs were declared the best he has ever had. Ramsay told both finalists to say goodbye to their staff and wait in the dorms. Before they left, Virginia told Tom and Giacomo were always known as the weak links, and that if she could win despite them, she could prove everybody wrong. On her side, Heather gave a long hug to Rachel saying that if she does not win, she could say that she had a great restaurant for one night. Back in the dorms, Heather and Virginia were drinking beer, and both of them told how nervous they were. After that, Ramsay was seen sitting in his office, thinking about making a decision based on his own observations, the Red Rock president's reviews, and the customer comment cards. After a few minutes, the Sous Chefs went knocking at the dorms' door to get both of them in Ramsay's office. Winner announced Arrived in Ramsay's office, Heather and Virginia stood in front of a door each. Ramsay praised Heather's great improvement and maturity throughout the competition, and Virginia's palate, which he said it was a gift. He declared he read every customer comment cards, and that one of them holds a slight advantage in front of the other. After giving both finalist a key each, Ramsay declared that one of those keys would not only open the door, but also their very own restaurant in Las Vegas. After waiting nervously for Ramsay's countdown to end, both finalists turned their keys, but only Heather's door opened. Heather became the winner of Hell's Kitchen, and Virginia the runner-up. Virginia took her defeat graciously, saying she trusted Ramsay's decision and that she hopes to be as successful as Heather one day. Ramsay's comment: "Heather won Hell's Kitchen because of her determination. She stuck to what she knew best, and she controlled her kitchen from start to finish. Heather clearly has great leadership qualities, and this, for a 25-year-old cook, is a phenomenon. This woman is going to be a big success. My work is done, it's been a phenomenal journey, I'm ready for the next challenge, and fuck you all!" Epilogue Three months later, Heather was introduced to her new staff at the Red Rock Resort where she gave a very emotional speech and thanked everybody from Ramsay to her parents, who were as emotional as her during her speech. The season ended with a big firework on top of the Red Rock Resort & Spa. Category:Season 2 Category:Episodes